Em
On a long and lonesome highway east of Omaha,
D
You can listen to the engine moanin’ out his one note song.
A Em
You can think about the woman or the girl you knew the night before.

But your thoughts will soon be wanderin’ the way they always do,
When you’re riding sixteen hours and there’s nothing much to do.
You don’t feel much like ridin’ – you just wish the trip was through.

D Em
Say, here I am, on the road again.
D Em
Here I am, up on the stage.
D A
Here I go, playing the star again.
C D Em
There I go, turn the page…

You walk into a restaurant strung out from the road,
And you feel the eyes upon you as you’re shaking off the cold.
You pretend it doesn’t bother you, but you just want to explode.

Most times you can hear ’em talk, other times you can’t.
All the same old cliches – is that a woman or a man?
And you always seem outnumbered; you don’t dare make a stand…

CHORUS

Out there in the spotlight, you’re a million miles away.
Every ounce of energy you try to give away,
As the sweat pours from your body like the music that you play.

Later in the evening as you lie awake in bed
With the echoes from the amplifiers ringin’ in your head,
You smoke the day’s last cigarette, remembering what she said…

CHORUS

** These chords and lyrics are interpretations and transcriptions, respectively, and are the sole property of the copyright holder(s). They are posted on this website free of charge for no profit for the purpose of study and commentary, as allowed for under the “fair use” provision of U.S. copyright law, and should only be used for such personal and/or academic work. **

Sorry about last week, everyone- I had an incredibly painful medical experience that put me on the shelf for a couple of days. Thankfully, it’s “passed” now (ha, ha) and I can get on with my life.

Tonight is a weird night for me. It’s the first night of about only ten or so nights of my life that I plan on spending alone. Obviously, there’s always the unexpected, but tonight really is a rare night in my life. You see, I share my condo with no one right now and it’s still a couple weeks before I get married to the person I’ve wanted to marry for about a third of my young life now. Things just kind of worked out this way, I guess (the whole living situation), as the original idea was to have my roommates move out early so Becky could move in her stuff at a slower pace.

However, turns out that we bought a new house (that’s just a piece of land at this point) and didn’t end up needing that extra time. So, I find myself alone on this Tuesday night. Actually, I couldn’t be happier- my brother Mike came over for a nice shrimp fra diavolo dinner and I’ve been doing odds and ends on the computer all night. I’m going to cherish this time alone- no need to worry about how loud the TV is at night, when I go to bed, or whether or not I have to alert anyone that I won’t be home for dinner. It’s a freedom that only comes when you don’t live with your significant other before getting married.

It also makes me realize how much I love my condo and how big it is! I’m not moving out of the condo because anything’s wrong with it- quite the contrary. I love this place and in two short years, I’ve really made it my own. But, it’s that feeling I have that I want a place that’s truly mine, and a condo just doesn’t fit that bill for me right now. It’ll be a sad day when I leave this place, but it’ll close a chapter that truly needed to be closed, as I clearly had some bad vibes with my prior arrangement and I’m glad that’s over with. Time to be movin’ on.

Speaking of moving on, let’s get to tonight’s post!

Tonight, I bring you another one hit wonder band in King’s Harvest, the group that performed “Dancing in the Moonlight”, a song everybody knows, but no one knows who did it. Actually, listening to the studio version, I noticed how good the vocal harmony parts were on the chorus. It was then slightly less of a surprise to me that this group consisted of Beach Boys touring band mainstays Ron Altbach and Billy Hinsche. Turns out that the Beach Boys actually got King’s Harvest signed to a record deal. They made one record that didn’t go anywhere and broke up after that. Members of this group even played with Dennis Wilson on the “Pacific Ocean Blue” album and were part of Mike Love’s short-lived band, Celebration.

This is one of those tunes I heard on the radio in the store one time and thought, “Yes, another Laptop Session awaits!” It’s pretty easy to play- first fret capo and play Em, A, D, and Bm. That’s it. The whole song. Verse. Chorus. Everything.

Of course, tonight, I’d be pretty stupid to dance in the moonlight, as it’s pouring outside. We’re in the middle of yet another thunderstorm. And after the heat I’ve suffered through at work the past couple of days, I’ll be glad for a break in the weather.

Have a great night tonight, wherever you are. Hopefully there’s some moonlight for you! I’ll be back tomorrow with an Original Wednesday song to make up for my lack of post last week. See you very soon!

C G
Yes I understand that every life must end, aw huh…
As we sit alone, I know someday we must go, aw huh…
I’m a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love…
Some folks just have one, others they got none, aw huh…

Am
Stay with me…
F
Let’s just breathe.

Practiced are my sins, never gonna let me win, aw huh…
Under everything, just another human being, aw huh…
Yeh, I don’t wanna hurt, there’s so much in this world to make me bleed.

Stay with me…
You’re all I see.

G Dm
Did I say that I need you?
G Dm
Did I say that I want you?
F Am
Oh, if I didn’t I’m a fool you see…
F G
No one knows this more than me.
G
As I come clean.

I wonder everyday as I look upon your face, aw huh…
Everything you gave and nothing you would take, aw huh…

Nothing you would take…
Everything you gave.

Did I say that I need you?
Oh, did I say that I want you?
Oh, if I didn’t now I’m a fool you see…
No one knows this more than me.
As I come clean.

(Fingerpicking over verse chords)

Am
Nothing you would take…
F
Everything you gave.
Hold me till I die…
Meet you on the other side.

** These chords and lyrics are interpretations and transcriptions, respectively, and are the sole property of the copyright holder(s). They are posted on this website free of charge for no profit for the purpose of study and commentary, as allowed for under the “fair use” provision of U.S. copyright law, and should only be used for such personal and/or academic work. **

And now, I am proud to bring you another great addition to The Laptop Sessions library. While he is technically not a new artist, his solo work is.

Today, Jakob Dylan released his first solo album “Seeing Things”, and to celebrate this release, I have dedicated today’s Laptop Session to this album. I have been very excited about it and can’t wait until amazon ships it to me.

Meanwhile, about 2 days ago I finally figured out how to play today’s song “Something Good This Way Comes”. It is track 8 and has been one of the songs on his website for quite some time. The album is very heavy on the acoustic guitar, and also finger picking. While I’m not new to it, I don’t do it often. Obviously, a single acoustic guitar (where Jakob Dylan is using 4+ in some songs) will not sound as much like the album, but I think this effort is quite good.

Also, you’ll notice the first verse I seem a bit loud. I sorta forgot “gee i’m fingerpicking I better sing a little softer”. The rest of it sounds fine, however.

If you wanna know the chords (relative to 2nd fret Capo), the verse is:

D G D D G D Em D A Em D A

Chorus is: G A D
Bridge is: F#m, Bm, A, D, E, A7

I hope you enjoy today’s session, and I hope you have picked up (or will pick up) “Seeing Things”. I can’t wait to hear the entire album! Come on amazon…

Meanwhile, enjoy today’s session, and come back tomorrow for another Original Song by Jim Fusco! I can’t wait to see what he chooses.

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up. We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session. We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and original music blog again in the future. But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!